This Article has been approved by our on staff NFI Certified Specialists & Master Hearth Professionals

Before you purchase your wood burning stove you will want to determine where you might want to place that stove and any barriers that my be in the way to hinder proper installation and venting. Our pre purchase / installation guide will help make sure that you are choosing the best location for your wood stove and venting system. A few minutes of fore thought can save you from getting half way into an installation and realizing that you cannot install it because of some sort of obstruction. This will also help you determine all of the extra components and how much pipe you are going to need as well. While checking for barriers you can take some general measurements, such as from the floor to the ceiling to help in determining the amount of stove pipe and chimney pipe will be needed. We recommend that you keep track of them on our submit a sketch form.

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What you will need:

• Owners Manual for the stove that you are planning on installing.
• -This will provide wood stove dimensions and required clearances to combustible materials.
• Pen or Pencil
• Manual for the venting system that you are planning to install
• -This will provide required clearances to combustible materials.
• Submit a Sketch Form or Paper
• Ladder(For through the roof installations)
• Tape Measure

Where you need to look:

• Through the roof installation:
• The Room that you are installing the Wood stove in.
• Attic Space
• On the Roof
• Through the Wall Installation:
• The Room that you are installing the Wood stove in.
• Exterior Wall

Inspect the room that you are installing your wood stove in:

The first place to start is in the room that you are planning to install your wood stove in. Use the recommended clearances for your wood stove to make sure that you are avoiding any obstructions when deciding your wood stove placement like windows, doors, light switches, outlets, lights on the ceiling and nearby furniture.

Inspect your attic space:

The next area that you will look is going to depend on the type of installation that you are going to be doing.

If you are going to be doing a through the roof installation you will need to next look at your attic space.

If you are doing a through the wall installation you will not need to inspect your attic space.

When Inspecting your attic space make sure that you are keeping your eye out for obstructions shown here.

Inspect the exterior wall:

If you are doing a through the wall installation the next place to inspect will be the exterior of the wall that you are planning on venting through. In order to make sure that your installation will be compliant with local code and clearances make sure that you are paying attention to obstructions like sidewalks, vents, windows air conditioners.

Inspect your Roof:

In a through the roof installation you the final place that you will need to inspect will be the roof. When you are on the roof you will need to make sure that the area that you are planning on running you chimney pipe through is compliant with clearances and free of any obstructions like peaks, valleys or other existing venting systems.

Installing a wood stove in your home is a great step towards energy savings, but installing your chimney system can get tricky. Follow the pre installation tips that we have given here and you should avoid any unexpected problems with your chimney and wood stove placement. Make sure that you are also looking into local code requirements in your area, as well, to make sure that your new chimney meets all requirements. If you are still looking to learn more on class a chimney systems and how to install them, make sure that you view our helpful how-to videos and articles in our Chimney Pipe Learning Center.

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